Mouthing Off

Chef Jamie Kennedy; courtesy of Joanna Dickins

I’m obsessed with Toronto, which is why I’m thrilled to hear about the upcoming cookbook that Ivy Knight, the editor of the terrific site Swallow, is working on with one of Canada’s very best chefs, Jamie Kennedy. READ MORE>

The food scene at Great GoogaMooga; courtesy of C. Taylor Crothers

Great GoogaMooga, the epic food and music festival that took over Brooklyn's Prospect Park for a weekend last spring is back for 2013 and kicking off on Friday, May 17. READ MORE >

PDT's Mapo Tofu-Topped Mission Chinese Dog; Photo © Nick Brown.

“Mapo tofu and I have quite a history,” says Mission Chinese Food’s Danny Bowien. “It’s the inspiration behind the whole MCF project.” I consider it the perfect dish; the only thing I’ve wished for is a supersonic cocktail to wash it down with. Lucky me: MCF in Manhattan now has a sparkling new liquor license and a team set on perfecting the most perfect version of Sex on the Beach.

Now there’s more great booze-and-tofu news: the exceptional bar PDT has just put the Mission Chinese Dog on their menu. It’s an all-beef hot dog covered with Bowien’s exhilarating, Szechuan peppercorn-packed tofu, plus onions, cilantro and American cheese sauce. The Mission Chinese Dog is spicy and messy and requires a knife and fork. And, of course, a cocktail. PDT’s Jim Meehan recommends the Alambic Fizz, a mix of Cognac, lemon juice, Landy's 5-Year-Old Bual Madeira and pimento bitters. It’s also got peach lambic. Peach schnapps is key to Sex on the Beach; I expect this drink is as close as I'll get to having the Spring Break staple at PDT.

Related: Cocktail Party Tips from Jim Meehan
Best Hot Dog Recipes
22 Classic Cocktails

Courtesy of Daniel Boulud

The dinners and food-related events to assist Hurricane Sandy victims are still coming fast and furious. Like Eleven Madison Park's benefit to help rebuild the DUMBO restaurant Governor on November 20th. I applaud every single person who has done something in the kitchen or out of it, to help and urge everyone to keep up their great efforts.
 
I don’t know how most of those fund-raising meals came about. But I did hear the backstory of Momofuku and Café Boulud for NYC, the $495-per-person, one-night-only extravaganza which raised thousands of dollars for the Red Cross on November 2nd. And I got this groovy photo. So I wanted to tell the story.
 
The Players: Superchef Daniel Boulud and Momofuku’s Dave Chang. And Ben Leventhal (Eater.com’s co-founder and food-world rainmaker) who had the idea to bring downtown uptown, then got Boulud and Chang together. Along with Café Boulud chef Gavin Kaysen and a bunch of Momofuku staff who wanted to do something, but couldn’t because their downtown restaurants were closed.
 
The Location: The elite Café Boulud (a place where Chang was once a harried line cook).
 
The Complications: Chang was in Toronto during the Hurricane; his return flight was repeatedly cancelled. So the chef jumped in a rental car and drove back to NYC. Stories of speeding tickets and empty gas tanks can’t be confirmed or denied.
 
The Café Boulud & Momofuku Menu:
scallop - chick-pea miso, tamari
matsutake agnolotti - buckwheat, french toast
veal sweetbreads - yuzu kosho, labne, asian pear
foie gras - lychee, pine nut
duck - wild rice, apple, brussels sprouts

To book seats at Eleven Madison Park's dinner in support of Governor restaurant on November 20th, call 212-995-0905.

And for more on Boulud and Chang, and another great photo of the two together, check out the Toronto story in the December issue of F&W (I happened to write it).

Related: Learn about #DineOutNYC
Daniel Boulud Recipes
David Chang Recipes

In the latest episode of Eric Ripert's new web series "On the Table" for Youtube’s Reserve Channel, the Le Bernardin chef and Top Chef vet Eric Ripert welcomes F&W's Gail Simmons for tequila Bloody Marys, fried eggs in Guinness cheese sauce and PG-13 chit chat about the real reasons Gail didn't become a ballerina. Plus: excerpts from Ripert's recent Facebook chat about foods obsessions and cooking barefoot in the Caribbean. More >

Despite the ocean of culinary wisdom floating around the F&W offices, I’m definitely guilty of not always fully reading recipes before creating a meal. Luckily, superstar chef Michael Mina has my back. He’s developed a new web video series called Cook Taste Eat, where he offer tips and tricks on how to prep a meal from start to finish. >>

It's not every day that Mario Batali hands out a Golden Pie Service Award. In fact, he'd never given one out before Sunday night, when he handed one to President Bill Clinton. Clinton was the star of an astonishing crowd that came out to support the Mario Batali Foundation, which works to keep kids well fed, well read and well cared for. Read more >

Courtesy of The Cinema Guild.

Step Up to the Plate, is the second film to follow French master chef Michel Bras and documents the chef's bequest of his Michelin three-star restaurant in Laguiole to his son Sébastien in 2010. See an F&W exclusive clip of the movie here>

Courtesy of Alanna Hale

F&W's Kate Krader gets a preview of superstar Danny Bowien's menu at Le Fooding's Brooklyn Fling in late September.

Chef John Besh presents Syrena Johnson with her chef jacket. / Courtesy Besh Restaurant Group

Here at F&W we’re crazy about the amazing food that our chef heroes make every single day, but we’re even more excited when they’re passionate about passing the torch on to the next generation of culinary leaders. Legendary chef John Besh has set out on a new mission: diversifying the chef community of New Orleans, enlisting native sons and daughters to preserve the city's venerable culinary traditions.

Read more >